Highlighting the underlying truth behind the legendary show Kimba The White Lion: That each and every living being is a thinking, feeling, loving creature.This blog is an essential part of the web site www.Kimba.US / www.KimbaWLion.com. For news relating to any of the Kimba The White Lion shows, click here.

Monday, April 11, 2011

For years now I have lived in the deep wilderness with the grizzlies, wolves, elk, moose, eagles, etc. and many times I feel like I am the student and they are the teachers. I am always so awestruck by the intelligence I see in many different animal species. In one close encounter several years ago with a grizzly, we both stared into each others eyes with only 75 feet between us. Afterwards the grizzly and I went our respective ways in peace. Since then I have seriously doubted if we are even really the most intelligent species on this planet. When I looked into that grizzly's eyes, it was such a profound experience, beyond words that I can express, and I could sense such a deep and profound intelligence. I could go on and on about what I have observed with many different species, large or small. I am always just so awestruck in what I see and experience in living with the other lives we two-legged humans share this planet with. I have no doubt that different animal species can reason and think like we do, have emotions, etc. Lately I tend to keep my mouth shut on this topic for I think that many might not be able to handle such information.

That contrasts starkly with other things I've been finding on the 'net, namely a string of reviews of the recent movie The Last Lions, and these reviews all have one thing in common. Here are some examples:

...There is a certain amount of anthropomorphizing going on here, a determination to give human characteristics to animals who may or may not have them....

...The one genuine problem with The Last Lions is its blatant anthropomorphism, which occasionally gets a little over the top. Nearly all of the movie is like this, presenting lions as capable of character development. ...

...“The Last Lions’’ tips into an anthropomorphism as unnecessary as it is absurd....

...But the lioness' biggest war is against the filmmakers, who consistently demean the proceedings with laughably anthropomorphic tropes like giggle-worthy narration lines regarding the lioness' mental state....

Now, I'm going to generalize and assume that those movie reviewers have not had the privilege of a close encounter with a grizzly, shared a snooze with a lioness, or any such experience. And yet they feel compelled to point out and decry "anthropomorphism" in the film--even though the filmmakers themselves said:

We’ve been as careful as we always are, through the rigorous fact-checking process at National Geographic, to avoid anthropomorphisms in the script.

I think this illustrates a real cultural problem. Dereck & Beverly Joubert have produced a powerful, emotional movie about the life of a lioness. These two people have lived with and photographed wildlife for decades, and they say they have produced a movie that tells a realistic story. They should know what they are talking about.

But people who do not have experience with animals feel they need to decry "anthropomorphism" in the film, as if their credibility depends on them doing so.

And the top quote, from an "amateur", yet seemingly very experienced with wildlife, reveals someone who feels caught in the middle--she knows of the intelligence and emotional lives of animals, but feels that such information is not acceptable to most people.

It is true that our society values what we believe to be "scientific" over what individuals have experienced. Truth is not served by this. And ultimately animals suffer for it.

The Last Lions is a powerful movie--almost too powerful. But I say that if you can look at the lioness as she has to leave her wounded cub and you don't see and feel the pain in her face, then you are much too worried about your "credibility" and you're not really living.

You can search the internetYou can use your video phoneTo call another friend.If we gave you all the toolsYou can do whatever you wantWho knows when this will end.

Intelligent life is all around us

Hey, bonobo womanHey, bonobo manLook in your eyesThat's where we come from

Hey, bonobo womanHey, bonobo manTalk to us nowWe are listening

Starting to hear the things you've saidGetting to know what's going on in your headThere's no humans on the lineBut there'll be plenty more there in good time.Dolphins, cats, and elephantsThis is not some wild romanceJust look in their eyes and say it's not trueLook in their eyes, they're checking out you.

Communication with the Animal NationWe are in communication with the Animal NationWe are in communication with the Animal Nation